ENHANCING HARVESTER FORWARD-FEEDING PERFORMANCE: AN EXERCISE IN OPTIMISING MACHINE-CROP INTERACTIONS

THE move towards green-cane harvesting and the focus of manufacturers and machine operators on effective feed of cane into the machine and high machine output have resulted in trends of increasing power and more aggressive knockdown. This focus on operational reliability has generally been at the expense of damage to both the cane stalk (resulting in direct losses) and the stool (resulting in indirect losses). The compromise in machine configuration between reliable feed in recumbent crops and acceptable damage in upright crops has also been difficult. The forward-feeding layout and basecutter configuration are paramount to the feeding ability of current-model machines during harvesting of heavy, lodged green cane. To minimise choking or glut-starve feeding, increased feed efficiency is a fundamental criterion in the forward-feeding geometry. An enhanced forward-feeding geometry module was designed and developed based on an underslung basecutter arrangement. The performance of the enhanced underslung module was evaluated and compared with standard feeding configurations in heavily lodged and erect crops in Northern NSW. The field performance clearly demonstrated a significant improvement in machine performance over the standard forward-feeding module in gathering and feeding ability in both erect and lodged crop conditions.